New Beginnings
by zivaisthetype
Summary: When Ziva returns from Africa the whole team has changed and she finds that a Mossad Agent  and friend  has been murdered.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, so this is my first storyand I'm super nervous(: I have re-read this chapter as much as I possibly can and found no mistakes but if you see some, let me know(: Sorry I tend to ramble on with my stories, but I hope you enjoy!

**I do not own any of the NCIS characters.**

Watching NCIS is very helpful to this story, or else you might not get it completely. Thanks so much for reading(:

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><p><em>Being in an explosion was practically the scariest and most exhilarating thing she had ever experienced. When the debris stop flying and the smoke cleared she lifted her head up from the ground. She turned to her sister, who was no longer by her side. Now, she stood on her feet despite the pain she was feeling from the impact. Her vision was blurring but when she squinted she almost could see almost clearly. This was no time to panic, she thought not seeing her sister or her half brother, be prepared for anything. But nothing would ever prepare her for what she was about to see; not her Mossad training, not her constant field work, nothing.<em>

_Ziva felt hands on her hips. She whipped around with her knife tight in hand, but it was only her half brother. She cursed at him. His fingers went to his lips signaling her to be quiet. She rolled her eyes. Whatever was about to happen, whoever was about to come through the light dust, the two of them could take, not to mention her sister who was some where around the battle ground. All three of them have had the most elaborate, most intense, Mossad training there was. They were invincible._

"_Where is Tali?" Ziva whispered violently. Ari shrugged his shoulders as he called for back-up. After he finished, he drew his gun as did Ziva, not worried about their sister who was perfectly well trained to take care of herself. Splitting up, Ziva and Ari both went to the opposite directions. After a few minutes of maneuvering herself through the dust, Ziva heard footsteps. They were heavy and large. Male footsteps, not her sixteen year-old sister. Ziva proceeded forward towards the man until she came to a clearing where they faced each other. Ziva brought her leg up to his face, satisfyingly kicking him in the jaw. He fell to the ground, but tried to get up. Before he could, Ziva took her gun and whacked him on the skull. He passed out. She dropped to her knees and searched through his pockets finding that he was part of Hamas, a military group that was responsible for most suicide bombings towards Israel. Ziva stood over the man's unconscious body. Suspecting he was a terrorist she tied his hands together and proceeded further. They would most likely pick him up and bring him back to Mossad for interrogation. As she got closer and closer to the eye of the explosion, more dead souls surrounded her. Without the right training, she probably would've cried, or even vomited. Finally, she saw Ari, who was standing over a dead body. _

"_Did you find Tali?" Ziva called out to him. He looked up at her, sorrow ness on his face and shoulders hunched. "What is wrong?" She walked closer, almost tripping over something. She looked down and noticed the detonated bomb attached to the disincarnated body. "Suicide bomber." She mumbled to herself, disgusted. _

"_Ziva." Ari said as she came closer, "Don't."_

"_What are you saying?" She asked, still walking despite his warning. As she approached him and studied the ground that he was standing on, Ziva realized she should have taken his advice. "That can not be her," was all she could say as she dropped to her knees and stared into the dead eyes of her younger sister._

Ziva David awoke from her deep sleep. Breathing hard, she got out of bed. Her alarm would go off in a matter of minutes; there was no point in going back to sleep now. Changing into her running clothes and slipping on her sneakers, she left her apartment for her usual run. It seemed she dreamt of her sister at least every other night. It didn't make the dream all much better that her half brother Ari always showed up. Having Tali's life taken by an absurd suicide bomber and the reminder that she had ended Ari's life a few years ago was never a good combination for a dream. Let alone, a dream she experienced almost every night.

Ziva arrived back at her apartment a half a hour later. She continued with her morning routine and slipped into the shower washing off her sweat from the day before and her jog. Sometimes, she blamed herself for Tali's death. Why was she not protecting her on the mission? Why had she not been there? Sometimes she even blamed her dead half brother, but admittedly regretted it and apologized to herself for forcing blame on a dead man's grave. Deep inside herself she knew who really was to blame. Eli David, her and Tali's father. How could he send Tali, a sixteen year-old girl, into the field and expect Ziva and Ari to protect her? He should have been the one there, risking his life for his country, instead for his youngest daughter.

Gibbs, Tony, Tim, Abby, and even Ducky had finally convinced her that her father was not all the man she thought he was. Of course, they only knew from experience of what he put Ziva through. Sending her into combat constantly, having an agent pretend to love her only to spy on her, putting her through a mission that involved her getting captured and tortured for three months, and finally, raising her as a killer. They did not know about Tali, how her father sent her to consult a suicide bomber that led to her death, and they would never know.

Ziva climbed out of the shower and dried off. After slipping into her clothes and putting on a fair amount of makeup she pulled up her thick brown hair into a ponytail. She grabbed her new NCIS badge and gun from her bedside drawer hoisting it to her belt. Ziva looked into the mirror smiling at her badge. She had gone through hell trying to earn this. Earning back Gibbs' trust, taking her citizenship test, and going through NCIS evaluations, which was extra hard considering she took it after three months trapped in a bunker in the middle of Africa. Not to mention learning how to trust Tony once again. She sighed deeply putting all of her memories behind her for another day of work. At least she had one thing to thank her father for; sending her to NCIS, the place she loved more than anything.

Ziva arrived to the squad over ten minutes late. Usually, Gibbs would have taken her to the elevator, giving her a lecture about being on time for work. Usually, Tony and McGee would be giving her a hard time about being tardy. McGee would let it go after a few jokes but Toy would drag it on throughout the day. Today, however, no one said a thing. Ziva some how wished they would give her a hard time, be mad at her for a few minutes, but ever since Africa, all three of them let her slide on almost everything. She hated it.

"Sorry I am late." Ziva said reminding them that she was not on time so they might yell at her or laugh or something. No one said a thing. She sighed and fell down into her chair. Why could they just let it go? Why could her team just treat her like they used to instead of an injured little puppy? She thought. It had been weeks since they rescued her. Of course, whenever they saw her scars from her three months in the middle of the Sahara Dessert they admittedly grew sympathy for her. She was sick of it. She was over it, why weren't they?

"So what is our agenda for today?" Ziva asked tired of the silence. That was most of her love for NCIS, always so loud, so busy, never a dull moment. Now, they all just worked in silence. Gibbs looked up at her for the first time.

"Just paper work Ziva." He told her. She sighed again. Paper work, another thing that irritated her completely. She was thankful though. Her stack on her desk was getting a bit large and she desperately needed some to catch up on it. Ziva grabbed her first file and opened it finding a picture staring up at her.

"What is this?" She asked holding up the file. They all looked up at her.

"Oh sorry." Tony said recognizing the file and getting up, "I must've put it on your desk on accident. That's mine." He reached for it, but Ziva pulled it away. Tony bit his lip. Truthfully, he missed arguing with her but today wasn't the right day to start a fight. They hadn't even spoken about anything but a case since Somalia. Well, he _had _congratulated her on her new permanent position at NCIS. But now, he felt like it wasn't _right _to irritate her, or better yet, purposely make her angry. Tony just wasn't sure about his partner the last few weeks. Ziva wasn't herself, and he understood. Three months as a prisoner could do that to you. He felt like it was his duty to become more mature with Ziva because of her summer, which was the least he could do. So Tony didn't argue with her and snatch the file away, he didn't tickle her sides to force her to release the papers, he didn't say a word.

"Do not apologize." Ziva whispered to him, feeling his sympathy towards her, again. She had never heard him apologize over something so little before.

Again, the urge hit Tony to say something sarcastic or annoying. He searched his mind for the right words to say, something a _mature __adult _would say. He didn't find a single sentence. Just when Tony thought he would have to resort on saying something completely rude, Ziva's scar on her wrist caught his eye. Now, sympathy grew inside of him. He knew Ziva wasn't the one to like getting treated with love and kindness, and certainly not sympathy but he had no choice, he couldn't make her angry, not today, not this week. Tony sighed deeply, "Can I have my file?" He said, almost choking on his words.

Ziva took in a deep breath to prevent herself from arguing with her partner about treating her like a little girl. In the last few moments all she was hoping for was for Tony to snatch the file out of her hand and quote a movie or something completely ridiculous like that. That's what he would've done in the past, before he shot her boyfriend and she chose to stay in Israel. "No, you can not." She snapped and opened the file on her desk. Now McGee and Gibbs were next to them looking over Tony and Ziva's shoulder. Ziva pointed to the victim's familiar picture. "I know him."

"How?" Gibbs asked, grabbing the file from her desk. He was relieved that Ziva was opening up a cold case. She was beginning to go back to her normal self plus; they wouldn't be stuck with paper work all day. "McGee, get this up on the plasma." McGee followed orders having the old case on the screen in less than a few minutes. Ziva studied the picture again. McGee looked at her, smiling. He missed the old Ziva's feisty and a bit aggressive personality. Even when she had pulled away from Tony a few moments ago he couldn't help but laugh a little to himself. Things were so much different now, so much more clam. The MIT graduate noted that Gibbs hadn't even slapped Ziva on the back of the head for coming into work late. He wondered if Ziva enjoyed getting treated with a little more sympathy around the bullpen. _Probably__not,_McGee thought.

The Israeli looked at the familiar face on the plasma. This was the last thing Ziva had hoped to happen today. First, her whole team was treating her like a child instead of the assassin that she was and now, she was looking at her friend dead, murdered, on the screen located in the middle of the squad room. Ziva opened her mouth, breathing in air but not saying anything. She felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Who is he?" Tony asked. She gained strength from his touch. She felt a little more able, and willing, to tell the team just who the victim really was.

"Aalee Jabara was a Mossad Agent."

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><p>Yes, I do know its basically impossible for Ziva to get her NCIS badge only a few weeks after the team rescued her from Africa, but just go with it(; More chapters comming(: Thanks for reading!<p>

-Sam


	2. Chapter 2

"_You okay, McGee?" Tony asked as loud as he could. His mouth was dry, he could barley taste any saliva, and it didn't help that he'd been talking for hours to Saleem. McGee's mouth felt worse not to mention he had passed in and out for the last few hours. But now, he was fully awake. Still, he could barley answer his friend's question._

"_Yeah."_

"_Good."_

_They waited in silence. Saleem had abruptly left the bunker after Tony had told him how they found his location. He then accused the special agent of lying, but he couldn't lie. Lying wasn't even possible for Tony now; the truth serum had fully kicked in._

"_Why are we here again?" McGee managed to spit out. _

"_Revenge." Tony said, without hesitation._

_"We are?" Tim asked. He then recalled Saleem's truth serum that he injected into Tony. _He_ was certainly here for revenge. Tim, on the other hand, was here for proof. He couldn't just hear the word's 'Ziva's dead' and believe it without seeing it for himself. He had to know for sure, other than Tony, who just wanted to kill the basterd who laid hands on their former agent. "We are." McGee said again. This time, it wasn't a question. Tony shifted in his seat._

"_It's my fault she's gone, Tim." The very special agent admitted, "I screwed up."_

"_No you didn't. It was her decision to go."_

"_But I forced that decision on her. I was stupid."_

"_You were careless, not stupid."_

"_Same thing."_

_They both sat in silence once more. Tony licked his lips. He had been admitting things all afternoon, it wasn't going to stop. He wouldn't tell anyone, but he was happy to let all these secrets out of his brain. It made him feel relieved. But it wasn't Saleem who would be hearing more secrets; it was his partner, Tim that he wanted to spill to._

"_McGee. You're my friend. Never forget that. No matter how much I screw with you."_

"_You're my friend too, Tony." McGee felt his partner's need to say things. Well, Tony always had a need to say things, but this time it was different. This need was personal._

"_And I'm sorry."_

"_Don't be."_

_Again, silence. It was mostly for Tony to recover. He needed to think. In a few moments, he would speak again._

"_Ziva was some one who I cared for, a lot."_

"_I know." And he did know. He knew that their flirtation was always something more. There was always something there, between them. Everyone knew. It made him even angrier how Tony used her name in past-tense; like he had no hopes that she was alive. "You don't know that she's dead. She could still be alive."_

"_I know." Tony answered, "How will I face her?"_

"_You'll tell her the truth."_

"_Well duh, McObvious! I won't have a choice."_

_That's when Saleem angrily reentered the bunker, dragging a woman by the arm. He pulled a chair in front of Tony and violently sat her down. The bag flew from her head. At first, she was blinded by light from not seeing it in months. But as her vision cleared and her pupils adjusted she saw Tony sitting in front of her._

"_When I come back, one of you will die." Saleem spat and stormed out, slamming the door on his way out. She watched Tony's chapped, cracked lips form into a smile on his bruised, dirty face that was covered in dry blood. He was restrained, something she knew he didn't take easily. But being tortured wasn't easy; she was the one to know. Now Tony's dry mouth was open, he was going to say something._

"_Hey Zee-va. How was your summer?"_

Ziva stared at her phone debating what she was going to say when she finally dialed. McGee was abruptly typing away on his computer trying to completely recover the cold case and Gibbs had ventured up to the director's office to most likely inform him they were opening up a new case. _What __about __Tony? _Her eyes shot up to his desk. He wasn't there. She didn't have time to worry. Ziva had to make time to call her father, Eli David, for the first time since her last, and final, mission as a Mossad Agent. She took herself to the women's restroom, locked the door, and slowly hit the numbers on her cell phone.

"Director David." He answered. She took a deep breath questioning herself whether or not she should continue or just hang up and never try to speak with him again.

"Is anyone there?" His accent was emphasized. He was irritated.

"Papa, it is Ziva." She whispered, holding the phone tight against her ear.

"Ziva! How nice to hear from you."

"Sorry I have not called since the mission."

"Yes," he sighed, "I have been worried."

"Do not be worried." Ziva bit her lip wondering if she should proceed. She knew what she wanted to say, just not how to say it. "Do not be worried, I am with family." She heard him take in a sharp breath. The comment was meant to hurt him.

"You are not coming back to Mossad?" He questioned.

"No. I will not be returning to Israel either." Her father didn't say anything. For a while, all Ziva did was listen to him breathe. _Get __on __with __it._She told herself. "That is not why I called, though."

"What other reason is there?"

"Aalee Jabara is dead." She spoke of the Mossad Agent that was in the file Tony mistakenly put on her desk. She also spoke of an agent she was quite close to when she worked for Mossad. He was one of the few agents that knew about Tali. His team had been the backup that Ari had called for.

"Agent Jabara, how?" There was hardly any sympathy in his voice for one of his agents. He was as hard as rock, always had been, always will be. She resented him for that.

"I do not know."

"I assume your Director will be contacting me shortly." Eli spoke. He wasn't her director anymore; he wasn't even her father as far as she was concerned.

"Most likely." There was hate in her voice. The more she talked with him, the more memories flooded back to her. Over and over she saw Tali, and Ari, and the hell she was forced to face in North Africa just so _he _could complete the _mission_. It was always about the mission with Eli, never the lives he put in danger, even if it was his family.

"Take care of yourself Ziva." He said when a call came in from his other line, probably Leon.

"Shalom Eli." Ziva said, purposely not calling him _father _or even _papa_. He hung up the phone to take his next call. Still, she held the cell close to her ear. Ziva found herself shaking. She stumbled into a stall and locked it behind her, even though the main door was already locked. She bent over the toilet.

"_Tell me, Jew!" Saleem screamed slapping her across the face. She shook her head. Never would she betray NCIS._

Ziva dropped her phone on the ground as she spit up a little. She was still shaking, and now sweating.

"_You must complete the mission, not matter what!"_

"_But father, I will have to go alone."_

"_Complete the mission Ziva!"_

She puked. The Israeli wiped her mouth and picked her phone back up. Stumbling out of the stall, she made it to the sink. Ziva looked up at her reflection. She hadn't even shed a tear. _What __is __wrong __with __me? _There was a knock at the door. In her vulnerable state, she jumped a little, which was something she never did. But her hand still flew to her belt loop. Her gun was drawn, an arm length in front of her, pointing at the door. She sighed; there was nothing to worry about in the NCIS ladies' restroom. There was another knock, only harder and with a voice at the end.

"Ziva?" His voice was smooth, but worried some how. She breathed in the bathroom air, gagging at the smell. Lowering her gun, Ziva unlocked the door, and then returned to the sink. He walked in, noticing her distress and anger.

"You okay?"

"I am fine."

_Lie. _He thought. "Okay, you don't have to talk about it. I just need you to talk to me." He said. She glared at him.

"Later Tony." She snapped and began walking towards the door. For a moment, he thought he was just going to let her walk away. Tony had replayed approaching her over and over again. She never answered with 'later' when he asked her to talk to him, in his mind. That was Ziva. But behind her usual 'hiding feelings' wall, he knew she had a soft spot. He just had to figure out how to break it down.

"Now, Ziva." He whispered and grabbed her arm as she walked passed him. She whipped her arm out of his grasp and continued towards the door. He stepped between his partner and the restroom door, locking it once more.

"I do not wish to talk now." She told him.

"I can't keep avoiding you, and you can't keep avoiding me. It's been weeks and we haven't talked about anything but some cases."

"What is there to talk about?" She asked, knowing perfectly well.

"Anything but a case," he whispered. He lifted his hand to her face and tried to place a misplaced hair. She flinched.

_Saleem __smacked __her __hard __when __she __didn__'__t __answer __his __question._

"Sorry." His hand flopped back down to his side.

"I am sorry." Ziva started, looking him directly in his green eyes just like she used to. "I should never have left and should have never trusted my fath…Eli." She paused and turned away. Her back faced him, but Tony saw her sad reflection in the mirror.

"Ziva don't beat yourself up, this was his fault, not yours." Tony told her as he checked all the stalls. He noticed the vomit. "Are you okay?" He asked again.

"Forget it. I ate a bad lunch."

_Lie_. But again, he let it slide. He approached her so there were only a few spaces between them. Tony watched a tear escape from her beautiful, brown eyes. This time Ziva didn't hesitate when he wiped the small drop of water from her cheek.

"I should have trusted you. I should have not questioned your judgment. I should have realized that you, my partner, have always had my back." Now, both of their faces were held in each other's hands. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me; I was only doing what I do best."

"Your job?"

"Looking after you."

She laughed at this. He always knew how to make her laugh. He always knew how to make her feel better, too. "I do not need to be looked after."

"I know." He smiled his famous, gorgeous smile, "Just go with it."

She dropped her hand from his face and pulled away from him. "This Mossad officer was very close to me."

"Did you sleep with him?" He knew it was an inappropriate question, but he didn't care. He couldn't help but feel a bit jealous, even though the officer was dead.

"No." She snapped. "He was my friend."

"I'm sorry, Ziva."

"No, it is fine. He was a good agent, a loyal one too. You remind me much of him." She smiled and looked up at the Italian agent.

"Then it's a wonder why you didn't sleep with him!" Tony joked.

"Did you have any leads on the case?" Ziva asked, ignoring his comment.

"A couple, McGee is still working on it."

"We better go help." She got to the door before he stopped her for the last time.

"I'm sorry, Ziva." He whispered.

"You are forgiven, Tony." She whispered back, standing on her tip-toes to plant a small kiss on his cheek. They smiled at one another and then he opened the door, following her on the way out.

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><p>There's some TIVA for you(: I think I'm going to have some McAbby (and more Tiva) comming soon as well. Thanks for reading<p>

-Sam


	3. Chapter 3

"_She's dead, Jethro." Vance spoke from across his office. For moment, he thought the director was joking. But his body language and the more serious expression than usual that filled his face told Gibbs otherwise._

"_How?" He kept his composer, but there was a hard crack in his voice._

_Leon reluctantly handed his best agent a file. "That's all I have. Read it over." Gibbs took it then nodded his head as to say 'thank you.' _

_Later that night he sat in his basement, memorizing the file. A mission gone wrong, no bodies found. As Gibbs read the report he managed to keep a small ounce of hope deep down inside himself. If they found no bodies, there _was _a possibility she was still alive. She was a Mossad agent, trained like a spy, and raised as a killer. There was no way she went down without a fight, maybe she had won._

_The next few days everything seemed off. DiNozzo was unfocused, Abby hadn't touched any Caf-Pows, and Tim was acting anything but normal. _They have to be digging around, _he thought. Finally, Gibbs had had enough of it when they were all gathered down in Abby's lab one morning. Tony hadn't made one movie reference, Abby wasn't hyping around the room, and McGee wasn't being McGeek-ish._

"_What the hell is going on here?" He suddenly shouted, slamming his fists on the table. They all looked down to the ground, knowing exactly what he was questioning, and feeling ashamed. "Am I missing something?"_

_"Are we _missing _something? Why hasn't Ziva contacted any of us?" Tony asked. His voice sounded sharp, like he was feeling betrayed. Gibbs knew he shouldn't keep information from them any longer._

"_Ziva was assigned a mission during her time with Mossad. She was on a ship with her team when Mossad lost contact. The ship was found, but no bodies." _

"_So she's dead?" Abby asked, violently holding back tears. Gibbs shrugged, not wanting to confirm or deny anything. He couldn't stand the look on Tony's face and had to look at the floor when he saw Abby dig her face into Tim's jacket. The silvered hair marine sighed relief when Tony finally spoke up. The silence would have killed him._

"_So are we just going to stand here, or are we going to do something about it?" There was violence in his voice and revenge in his eyes._

When the two agents came back together, Gibbs didn't question. Ziva's eyes were filled with dried up tears and DiNozzo's face was stiff, yet they both seemed happier than a few hours ago. He assumed they had talked it out and Gibbs crossed his fingers under his desk that the two of them would return back to normal friends. Besides, they didn't get work done as fast when they fought, which was happening a lot more in the last few weeks. He prayed those weeks were now over. Gibbs' hand was starting to swell from all the head slapping he seemed to be doing. His gazed drifted from Tony and Ziva to Tim, who was working tirelessly at his computer.

"What do you have for us, McGee?" The fearless leader asked while standing from his chair. He had been itching to ask Tim that questioned but knew he should be patience and wait for Tony and more importantly, Ziva, to return. She did know the victim after all.

"I just uploaded the files to the plasma," McGee stood and grabbed the remote, clicking some buttons. The whole team gathered around the screen. "Aalee Jabara bled out on a street corner when he was walking home from a bar from a knife wound on his neck. Ducky said the murder had to be left handed from the depth of the wound." The computer geek glanced over at the field agent. He noticed the dried tears, but still continued with the rest of his findings. "I don't know how we missed that Agent Jabara was part of Mossad, but I did some extra digging and found out he just got back from Israel a few weeks before he was murdered here in D.C."

"This does not make any sense." Ziva frowned as her eyebrows lowered. "Aalee was a damn good agent, hardly ever made mistakes, and certainly was never the one to _flip _up during a mission."

"_Slip _up, Ziva." Tony corrected. She whipped her gaze to him, frowning even harder.

"Whatever," she scowled, and then proceeded. "How does one sneak up behind a _Mossad__Agent_and slice his throat before he notices? I can hear people approaching me several feet away with my back turned to them."

"Professional kill?" Tony asked. Gibbs nodded. McGee searched through the screens to find his next piece of information.

"Suspects ranged from co-workers when he worked in D.C., friends from bars he hung out frequently, even people from his past."

Ziva scanned through all the suspect's pictures as McGee scrolled through them rather quickly. Suddenly, she recognized one. "Wait, go back!" She yelled as it disappeared. McGee did what he was told.

And there he was, the man that always visited her dreams every other night. The man she had beaten unconscious then tied his wrists together. The same man's pockets she had looked through, discovering he was part of Hamas. The very man she and her Mossad team had forgotten and had left on the battle ground. Ziva never even knew his name till now. _Ismail __Zahar._

"Who is he Ziva?" Gibbs asked, waking her up from her memories.

"A member of Hamas, or at least he was a long time ago." She whispered.

"Care to explain?" Her boss asked. She looked at him doubtfully. She didn't want to have to explain. She didn't want to have to tell her closest friends about her dream she experienced almost every other night. She didn't want to have to relive it more than she already had too. Gibbs wrapped his arm around her shoulder, acting like a safety net. He led her to the elevator, where they both slowly stepped in. Before the doors closed, Ziva briefly looked up from the ground, noticing her partner as worried as ever. He shot her a smile as to reassure her, to tell her she was going to be okay. The doors shut, leaving Tony's smile back in the bullpen. Gibbs switched off the elevator.

"Talk to me, Ziva."

And that's when she spilled. She told Gibbs everything, crying and sobbing into his arms through every detail of Tali's death. She explained how she was so careless and just left Zahar alive, not taking him in for interrogation. "I was so caught up in Tali, I forgot about him." She whimpered, some how wishing she would've shot him when she had the chance. He was part of the group that had killed Tali in the first place. Now he was responsible for a Mossad Agent's murder. She had screwed up.

"Do you know for sure it was him?" Gibbs asked, stroking Ziva's hair as her head rested on his shoulder. She shut her eyes and saw Zahar standing before her. He held his gun in his _left_hand before she kicked him in the jaw.

"He was holding his gun in his left hand. Ducky said Agent Jabara's murder was…"

"I know what Ducky said." Gibbs whispered pulling her closer. "This is not your fault Ziva. But I think you need to tell the team. It will be good for you."

"You tell McGee. He will tell Abby who will tell Ducky." Ziva whispered still with her head dug deep into Gibbs' shoulder.

"What about Tony?"

"I have to tell Tony."

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><p>"What's going on?" McGee asked his partner. They both still stood in the center of the squad room shifting their gazes between the suspect and the elevator.<p>

"I don't know." Tony said, "But I think Gibbs would want us to find out." Tim nodded and scurried over to his computer pulling up as many files as he could on Ismail Zahar. He was wanted for at least four suicide bombings in Israel and for the deaths of at least seven Israeli citizens.

"How bad is he?" Tony asked causing McGee to lift his head up from the computer screen and to loose focus.

"Bad."

Tony sighed loudly as his friend went back to work. He found himself glances at the elevators more than he glanced at the plasma. _How __does __Ziva __know __this __guy? _He asked himself, _and __why __didn__'__t __she __tell __me __about __him. _He slouched down in his seat rubbing his hands through his hair. Tony regretted leaving that stupid file on her desk. It was a cold case from last summer; they weren't going to find any new clues or suspects. He slammed his head on the desk and wrapped his head with his arms. This case was hopeless. It would just cause the team another few weeks of sleepless nights, sixteen hour days and more paper work then they started with.

"Tony."

He lifted his whole body up with the sound of her voice. Seeing her eyes bloodshot for the second time today gave him the worst feeling in his gut. He turned to Tim who was being led away by their boss in the direction of Abby's lab.

"What's going on Ziva?" He whispered despite them being the only two in the bullpen.

"Can I come over tonight? We need to talk."

He smile brightly hearing those words he'd been deeply wishing to hear come out of her lips for weeks now. "I'll drive."

"No, I drive." Ziva said, smiling again and snatching thekeys from his hand. She was always smiling around him. He was never a dull moment. _They _were never a dull moment. "You order the pizza on the way."

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><p>Sorry it's so short. I'm slowly running out of inspiration :o I think Abby and McGee will be next 3 Thanks for reading(:<p>

-Sam


	4. Chapter 4

Gibbs left Abby with McGee in her lab. He could trust Tim to explain Ziva's story, he could even trust Tim with the emotional Ms. Shuito. McGee watched his boss leave knowing perfectly well watch his expectations were of him. The geek turned to the Goth who was patiently waiting for him to explain why everyone was acting so strange.

"What's going on? Tell me McGee, and make it quick. I've got so many cases right now. Unless you guys are starting up a case! I will happily take that case. You guys are so much better than the other teams. I just _know _you guys so well, ya know?" Abby said, jumping around the room and getting herself off task as usual.

"Yeah, we're starting a new case."

Abby stopped running around her lab and jumped in the air cheering.

"But not till tomorrow. It's getting late anyways." He quickly added.

"Tell me about it!" She grunted. She was in between sorting out evidence and searching for a DNA match when she looked back at her friend who looked rather worried. "Why are you here then? Why is everyone acting so weird?"

"The cold case we're opening up is Ziva's. She knows the victim."

"Oh gosh, is she okay? I mean, she's been acting so unusual lately, this sure won't help." Abby stated. It was something they both we're thinking, she just had the nerve to say it out loud. He sighed loudly, getting closer to her like he was going to tell her some important secret. Abby always hated whenever her team acted so dramatic. All of them seemed to drag out things in such a suspicious a way, just to keep her on her toes.

"Yeah, I know. She cried twice today."

"Let me guess. Tony." She growled. Tim nodded.

"They talked."

"Well, that not a _bad _thing. At least maybe now both of them will act normal around each other. It makes me mad how stubborn they both can be."

"They've both gone through a lot together."

Abby looked up and narrowed her brow at him. "_We_have all gone through a lot together." McGee looked his best friend in the eyes, she was angry. He didn't mean for it to sound like that, but he decided to change the subject quickly. He would explain later.

"And there's a suspect. He's a really bad guy, like _Hamas _bad." He didn't know why he was whispering, they were the only two in the lab. "And I guess, when Ziva was working with Mossad before she even came to NCIS, she went on a mission with her _sister_."

Abby suddenly dropped all her thoughts about every case and her anger towards McGee. "Ziva has a sister?" She was so surprised her Israeli friend had never told her. Ziva was never on to talk about family, seeing that she hardly even had family, but this was a good thing. Maybe this sister could come and visit and meet the whole team.

"Her name was Tali, and she was killed in a suicide bombing during that mission."

"Oh no." Again, Abby met McGee's eyes. No wonder Ziva never talked about it.

"Eli sent her, Tali, and _Ari_to consult him, to talk him out of it. Tali got to close, and she was killed. When the bomb detonated, Ziva was wondering around the battle grounds when she saw some one and knocked him unconscious. That's the suspect. When they found Tali, they completely forgot about him and left."

"And this guy is still out there?" Now she was yelling. How could the whole team have not have found him when they investigated this cold case earlier? How could they let Ziva down like this? _How __could __I __let __Ziva __down? _The forensic specialist thought. "I can't wait till morning, give me his name." Abby stood at her computer waiting for McGee to say words and for her to start searching.

"Abby, it's late. The best thing you can do for Ziva right now is get some sleep and be ready…" He was cut off.

"No Timmy! I have to start now! I can't fail her for the second time. Give me the name!" Abby pleaded. She felt his hand reach over and touch hers on the computer mouse. Such a gesture always made her fell better, always made her know everything would work out for the best, just like it always did.

"I'll take you home." He whispered to her.

"How do you know I'll go to sleep when I get home?" She asked. Truthfully, Tim didn't care whether she went to bed or not, he just knew she shouldn't be here. Gibbs had told him that, and deep down inside, he even knew Abby thought the same. He put on a small smile. Their hands were still touching.

"I'll stay with you, just to make sure."

* * *

><p>Ziva walked around the apartment. She hadn't been here in months. It was surprisingly clean, organized, and there seemed to be more pictures of the Gibbs' team hanging on the walls or sitting on top of tables.<p>

"When I thought you were dead, it was a wake up call." She jumped at the sound of his voice. He was standing behind her now. "I starting digging around in drawers and stuff, and I found all these pictures, decided to hang them up, just in case."

"They are nice." Ziva whispered, picking up the frame with a picture of their team, Gibbs, McGee, Ducky, Abby, her, and himself.

"Yeah, I guess." He swiftly took the frame out of her hand, setting it back in its place. "What did you want to talk about?" Ziva sighed. He was being persistent, but surprisingly doing it with a gentle feel.

"How about we watch a movie, like we used to?" She was procrastinating. Now that she was here with Tony, Ziva was getting nervous. How would she even begin to tell him about her terrible past? Would he think of her differently? She didn't want that. They were just getting back to being normal like they were a few months ago.

"Ziva, we need to talk." Tony hated when she did this. She was never one to talk about…_anything_. Ziva knew she couldn't hold off any longer.

"I _had _a sister when I worked with Mossad." And she told on, barely slipping a tear. Ziva had cried enough today, to Gibbs and to Tony. It always seemed like she was crying around her partner the most. She hadn't decided whether that was a good or a bad thing. Somehow they made it to the couch sitting on opposite sides, a few feet apart. Tony listened carefully, memorizing each word that slipped out of her mouth. He had never heard her talk about her past before. It was weird, but reliving in the same.

"And I just left him there, alive; after I found out he was part of Hamas. I should have shot him. I should have killed him right then and there." And for the third time today, she broke down. The Italian watched her on the other side of the couch. He hadn't said anything in the past ten minutes because he wasn't sure what to say. But now, as Ziva cried on his couch, he knew what to do.

Tony slid over to Ziva and grabbed her shoulders, embracing her with a strong hug. Usually, she would've pulled back or insisted that she was fine. This time, however, she returned his hug, wrapping her arms around his neck and crying hard into his shoulder.

"This is anything but your fault Ziva." He reassured her. "We'll get him."

"How do you know?" Her dark brown eyes met with his bright green ones.

"I just know. We always get the bad guy in the end." And he kissed her gently on the forehead which brought a smile to her face. "I'm sorry about your sister." There was a knock at the door followed by a man calmly yelling "pizza" on the other end.

"I got it." He left her sitting on the couch. As she looked around his living room the movie collection caught her eye. Ziva crawled over to the shelf that was filled with all his favorite movies. She recognized a lot of them from the way he quoted one at least once each day. She reached out and grabbed _The __Sound __of __Music _from his collection.

"Do you want a beer or anything?" Tony called from the kitchen after he paid for the pizza. He glanced in the living room and noticed her holding a movie smiling big.

"I thought you _hated _this movie."

"Well, I do." Tony admitted, "I got it during this summer."

They both exchanged looks, regretting how much more awkward the room became. "Oh." Was all Ziva said, feeling bad about bringing up the movie.

"Do you want to watch it?" Tony asked, trying to change the subject. Ziva nodded.

"I would like that."

They sat closer on the couch this time. Tony sat up while Ziva's legs were propped up on his lap. She sprawled out on the rest of the couch. He turned to her every so often. She mouthed the lyrics to the songs. He loved how she knew every word to every song. This movie was Ziva's favorite. This movie, however, was one of the few movies Tony hated. He never paid attention to it when he watched it, even when he watched it alone over the summer. And he sure wasn't paying attention to it right now. He was more interested in Ziva. She looked really beautiful today.

"What?" Ziva asked. She might've been a new NCIS agent, but she was no new investigator. She could easily tell he had been looking at her the whole time, while she still watched one of her favorite movie.

"Nothing, I was just thinking."

"About what?" She had wanted _him _to talk to _her _now. She had been doing too much admitting today. It was some one else's turn, it was her partner's turn.

"I just missed you. A lot." He whispered thinking about the summer. It was hard enough that she wasn't there, but even harder that the whole team thought she was dead. When Gibbs had first told him, Tony admittedly went out to the bar, drinking his pain away. He soon realized she wouldn't have liked that, and decided to find Saleem instead. And when they rescued Ziva a few weeks ago, he finally had realized just how much he had really missed his partner.

"I have always been here." She laughed and pointed to his chest where his heart was beating especially fast since she first placed her feet on him. It wasn't much of a touch, but it meant a lot to Tony. He smiled at her cheesy answer.

"What? Are we in _The __Notebook _or something?" He laughed speaking of the highly romantic movie. She looked more confused than flattered.

"We are on paper?" She asked.

"It's a movie." He paused, and then added, "Never mind. I just missed you, that's all." This time Ziva was more serious.

"I missed you too."

"Really?"

She remembered how she thought of the team everyday she was held prisoner, Tony especially. Ziva really regretted leaving them, and him. A few weeks into her torture, she finally admitted to herself that she missed them; Gibbs, McGee, Abby, Ducky, and Tony, and would do anything to get them back. And now she had them all back. They were a team again, and she hoped that the new case would not tear them apart. She looked back at Tony who was still waiting patiently for her answer. She smiled big at him. "No." Tony smiled back. He always could tell when she was lying.

* * *

><p>So there is some Tiva AND McAbby(: I'll get on with the plot next chapter, sorry to keep dragging it out like this! Sorry I didn't do a little flash black thing at the beginning of the chapter. I couldn't think of anything that felt right for this chapter. If you didn't get the whole awkward thing with Tony and Ziva and the movie, I was thinking that Tony bought the Sound of Music when he thought Ziva died because it reminded him of her and such. I know, I'm kind of a helpless romantic(; I don't own any NCIS characters, or the movies The Notebook or The Sound Of Music. Thanks so much for reading(:<p>

-Sam


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning Ziva met Tony, McGee, and Gibbs in the squad room, ten minutes late. She slid into her desk, vulnerable to whomever, especially Gibbs. Without warning, Ziva felt a particular hard slap on the back of her head. She looked up, shocked.

"That's for being late, David." His voice sounded harsh, as usual. Still, she smiled brightly up at her boss, and new fatherly figure.

She didn't argue or make up an excuse. All she spat out was "okay" still with a smile on her face. Things were getting back to normal, things were looking up. The only thing that was blocking her from having a normal day was the cold case they were about to investigate. Of course, it was something she was not looking forward to. Who wants to investigate a colleague's, and a friend's, murder?

"Grab your gear." Gibbs mumbled the same thing he did everyday. Automatically, the team went for their desk drawers, grabbing their badges and hoisting their guns to their belts.

"Where are we going?" Ziva asked while lifting her crime scene bag to her shoulder.

"No need for that Ziva." Gibbs said towards the pack, "While you busy being late, McGee and Tony tracked down Zahar's place. Grab your vest instead."

Ziva looked over to her partners whose bullet proof jackets were already on. NCIS was printed neatly on the front.

"Here." Tony said handing her another vest. She slipped it on for the first time since Somalia. As she hugged the vest to her body, it felt right. It belonged there. She belonged here. Though her heart was beating fast from the threat of going out into the field, Ziva was happy. Everything _was _going back to normal. Everything _was _going to be better.

Gibbs parked the car a few yards from the warehouse. It looked abandoned, but still you could tell people lived there. There were obvious signs like, pizza boxes in the dumpster outside and footprints covering the dirt ground. Gibbs signaled Tony and Ziva to cover the back while he and McGee took the front.

"How does it feel to be back in the field, David?" Tony whispered. He had barely had said one word to her since last night. She had accidentally fallen asleep at his house, causing her to wake up late. She had drove home and changed as quickly as she could, but Ziva was still ten minutes late.

"It feels good, DiNozzo. Now shh."

They found a back door and stayed in position until Gibbs said otherwise. Ziva impatiently stood against the wall of the warehouse, shifting her gun from hand to hand.

"Nervous?" Tony asked, noticing her unusual discomfort out in the field.

"No." She wasn't lying, but she wasn't positive she was telling the truth.

"Scared?"

"_No._"

Gibbs' voice interrupted them. "NCIS!" His strong, hard voice yelled. They heard him kick down the door. On command, Tony quietly opened the back door. He looked back at his partner who nodded as to tell him to keep going. When they walked in further, Tony and Ziva both noticed three men, heavily armed. Tony held out his gun an arm length in front of him. It was delayed, but Ziva drew her weapon out as well.

"NCIS!" Tony's voice was almost as strong as Gibbs'. Instead of dropping their automatic weapons and raising their hands above their heads, the men pointed the barrels straight towards the two partners. Without hesitation, they both dove for boxes to take cover, only in different directions. Tony glanced over at Ziva who was a few yards away from him sitting against the boxes that were acting as her shield. Tony was doing the same. She breathed out hard, trying to catch her breath. It was exhilarating, being out in the field again. She looked over at her partner, who was already staring at her. Ziva nodded to Tony to tell him that she was going to shoot the suspects down, but he shook his head no. Ziva frowned at the senior field agent. Gunfire was going off rapidly through out the warehouse and Gibbs and McGee were no where to be found. What other choice was there? She decided to ignore him and crawled slowly around the boxes.

"Ziva no." He said, but she didn't hear. Tony cursed under his breath and daringly followed his partner. She was acting so careless, being so crazy. Before he knew it, she was on her feet shooting. _What __the __hell __Ziva? __Are __you __crazy? _He lectured her in his mind, but of course, it didn't help. Getting up onto his own feet, he saw two gunmen, Gibbs, and McGee. He started shooting, hitting the first suspect in the arm. Somehow, the other one fell to the ground. Tony smiled. They had done it. Gibbs and McGee ran over to the two suspects, kicking their guns away and handcuffing their wrists. Tony looked over at his partner expecting to see her smiling as well, having successfully completed her first mission since Somalia. But he saw the complete opposite.

Tony saw Ziva lying on the ground, blood spilling out of her body. It reminded him too much of the past summer. _"__And __there __were __no __survivors.__" _Gibbs' words echoed through his brain. He didn't believe it then, he sure didn't believe it now. Tony broke into a run, diving over to her limp body. His heart was beating even faster then it was during the gun fight. He searched for the Ziva's wound and found it on her side where her vest came up a little too short. Tony pressed his hand to her hip to stop the bleeding.

"Tony." Her whisper was faint. She grabbed his wrist and squeezed it tight. The pain was so bad, the hurt was worse. Why had she been so stupid? Going into gunfire for the first time in four months, she had been idiotic.

"I'm here." He reassured her. "Boss!" The bleeding wasn't stopping, so Tony pressed harder. Ziva winced and squeezed his wrist harder. A tiny tear formed in the corner of his eye. Her eyes, however, were now fluttering.

"No Ziva, stay with me." Gibbs was now at his side, pulling off his vest and throwing Tony his undercoat to cover the wound. McGee was on the phone repeating "Officer down, we need a bus. Officer down." Now Ziva's eyes were completely closed.

_She thought the darkness was going to kill her. She would try to close her eyes, as if it would help any, but the darkness was just as bad when she closed her eyes. Occasionally, she would see light, but that was something she feared too. When she saw the light, it would mean some one was coming into her cell, coming to beat more secrets or information out of her. Saleem would come in and scream at her, repeatingly hitting her, slapping her until she passed out. It was torture having some one hurt her and not being able to do anything about it. She hated how she had no more strength to fight back. Ziva hated the feeling of being helpless._

Her eyes fluttered back open to see Tony hovering over her body. He jumped up.

"You're awake." Tony cried. He was surprised. The doctor said she wouldn't be awake until tomorrow. Ziva looked around noticing she was laid up in a hospital.

"What happened?" She asked looking up to her partner. The Italian had a worried look pasted across his face. It was something the Israeli didn't see often.

"You were shot." He explained.

"But my vest-"

"Was too short. The bullet hit you in the side, barely missing a vital organ. What the hell were you thinking, Ziva?"

She frowned. Not at him, more at herself. What had she been thinking? "I wanted things to be normal again."

"What?" Tony was confused.

"I wanted to prove to all of you that I can be out in the field again. That I can kill suspects without hesitation."

"We know Ziva. Why would Gibbs let you come to the mission if he didn't think you were ready? Do you think I would've let you come out with us if I didn't think you were ready? What about McGee? Do you think-"

"All week, all _month_, everyone had been treating me with so much sympathy, I felt like I was helpless and that I could not take care of myself." Ziva interrupted. "I guess I wanted to shoot down the suspects to show you how much I can take care of myself, no matter how much hell I went through this summer." Their eyes connected. "And then when I had to tell you about Tali, I could see you feeling sorry for me. It was horrible."

"I'm just worried about you." Tony whispered, touching her hand. "You never even tried to talk to me about Africa, and when you told me about your sister…" Tony lost his train of thought. Ziva finished it for him.

"It was the past, Tony. Forgive me if I do not like talking about it."

"Just promise me you never jump into the middle of gunfire, Ziva." He was kneeling beside her hospital bed now. "No matter how much you feel like you have to prove something." Ziva let out a small laugh, now hearing how ridiculous her actions had really been. She was lucky to be alive. She was lucky to have a good team to take care of her. Better yet, she was lucky to have good partner.

"I promise, Tony." She smiled.

"Good. 'Cause I don't think I can stand loosing you again." It was something that just fell out of his mind and spilled out of his mouth. Ziva looked at him. Tony looked up at her.

"You will not loose me." Ziva smiled, hearing those words she had longed hoped to hear come out of her partner's mouth. She grabbed his hand that was lying on top of hers and squeezed it tightly.

"Good," he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "But I have some bad news."

"What?"

"There were three gunmen in the warehouse. I injured one, and Gibbs killed the other." Tony paused hoping Ziva would put together the rest.

"And the third?"

"And the third," Tony answered, "Well, we can't find him."

* * *

><p>Okay. So I'm not completely sure I'm satisfied with this chapter. I like it, but yet I don't. Reviews? Suggestions? Please. Help. If you like it, let me know! It will help with my peace of mind(: So I'm thinking maybe 10 chapters in all, or less. I still don't own NCIS ): As always, thanks for reading(:<p>

-Sam


	6. Chapter 6

From the doorway, Tony watched Ziva stir uneasily in his bed. She was probably having a dream, or a nightmare. Either way, he didn't like seeing his partner like this. Gibbs walked up behind his best agent, placing a hand on his shoulder; something he usually never did. It was usually a slap to the back of the head instead. Tony turned to look at his boss.

"McGee and I are going back to the office and try to search down the third suspect." Gibbs explained. Tony's eyes were blank, but he nodded. "Are you sure you can handle everything from here?" Again, Tony blankly nodded. Ziva had begged and begged for them to get her out of the hospital. She hated the feeling of being locked up in room, ever since Africa. Her only choice was to stay with some one, which Tony had volunteered for. Ziva reluctantly agreed.

"Are you sure?" Gibbs asked one more time. He was looking for Tony to say something, instead of just nodding like he was stuck in his thoughts instead of reality.

"Yeah boss, I got it." Tony looked back to Ziva, who had stopped tossing and now was fully sleeping, almost peacefully.

"Call if you need anything. I'll send McGee over."

Tony glanced across his apartment at his geeky friend who waited patiently at the front door. Tony waved at him and McGee waved back. "I'll be fine boss."

"It's not you I'm worried about DiNozzo." Gibbs remarked, slapping the senior field agent on the head and taking one last glance at Ziva. "You take care of her."

"Bye." Tony mumbled as his boss and his other partner left his apartment. He turned back to his bed. "You are probably the most stubborn woman I have ever met, you know that? You should be in a hospital right now instead of lying in my bed."

_She was so excited on the drive over to the hospital. Ziva turned to her older half brother, Ari. He didn't show emotion often, but it was easy for her to tell that he was just as excited as she was. When their father parked the car, the two siblings didn't even wait for their dad to get out. Instead, they both ran for the hospital doors running past the reception desk._

"_What room number is she in?" Ari panted while running through the hospital, the secretary shouting behind them from the front desk._

"_I think papa said 138, or was it 158?" Ziva doubted herself._

"_We'll check both." Her brother concluded. They slowed down when they reached room 138. Peeking in the doorway, they saw a nurse calmly making the beds for more patients to come._

"_She must be in 158." And they both took off running down the hall. It didn't take long for the two to reach the next room. This time, peeking in the door frame, Ziva saw a woman holding a small infant in her arms. She looked up. Ziva recognized her mother instantly and ran over with Ari shortly behind her. Ziva's mother greeted both of them with a warm hug then revealed the baby girl from inside the hospital blankets. _

"_What is her name?" Ziva asked, touching the young child's cheeks._

"_Tali.__" __Her __mother __spoke, __a __happy __smile __plastered __across __her __face._

Ziva calmly awoke from her dream, or more like memory. She admittedly recognized the room as Tony's bedroom. She heard voices mumbling. It was Gibbs and Tony standing in the doorway, most likely talking about her or the case. Ziva didn't move. She hoped they would think she was still sleeping. It was a stealthy move on her part; now she could ease-drop in the conversation. Ziva heard Gibbs leave. Soon after that, she felt some one standing in the doorway. It was obviously Tony, though she didn't turn around to face him. He started to talk, but he was too quiet for her to hear anything. Ziva felt him get further into the room. Now she could fully understand her partner.

"Please be okay, Ziva. I just want things to go back to normal. I don't want to have cases that bring up your past, or anybody's past for that matter, and I don't want you to act all crazy and running out in the middle of gunfire. I don't want you getting hurt." Tony sat down on the opposite end of his bed. He looked down at the woman sprawled under his sheets. It was a sight he could get used to seeing, though he would never admit it to anyone.

"We'll get this all figured out. I bet you my phone will ring in the next hour and it'll be Gibbs saying they found the third suspect, and they're taking him down as we speak." Tony still was worried about the third gun man. He had seen all of the team's faces, and he was suspected of being in _Hamas_. What if he came after them? "Yeah, everything will be okay." Tony said as to reassure himself more than the Sleeping Beauty next to him. "You look really pretty when you sleep, Ziva. So don't start snoring, because that will just ruin everything."

Ziva smiled, now fully awake and hearing everything that was spilling out of Tony's mouth. She knew she should turn around and tell him she was awake, but she was so curious on what the very special agent was going to say next.

"I wish I could've met your sister." Tony said, not completely sure if it was true or not. Ziva hadn't said much, but Ziva never does. He imagined her sister just like her. Like another Ziva, only younger. Tony reached out and stroked her hair, hoping it would wake her up so he didn't have to talk to himself any longer. Ziva tingled as he touched her hair, but she hardly moved.

"Alright, you're sleeping pretty well. I'll go make us some dinner or something." Tony said as he got up off the bed. "It won't be as good as your cooking, but I'll try." He reached the doorway before giving her one last look. He smiled big. "I love you." The words seemed to just come out of his lips like he said it everyday. It was true, Anthony DiNozzo had said 'I love you' to a woman before, but it never felt like it did now; and the woman wasn't even awake to hear it. He really did love her; he just had to figure out how to tell her. Tony would do it one day, when Ziva wasn't sleeping soundly in bed. And with that, Tony left the bedroom to go and try to make up some grilled cheese, or something simple that would feed Ziva once she woke up.

Ziva lay in his bed, stunned out of her mind. Had she heard what he said? It was three words; they were short and sweet. He had said 'I love you,' she was sure of it. She turned herself around to face the doorway, which was now empty. Tony had already gone to make food. Ziva stared up at the ceiling. Did she feel the same way? Of course she did. It was hard for her not too. Sure, his movie quotes and flirtatious behavior was sometimes, if not all the time, annoying. But once she got passed that, he was sweet, charming, everything she was looking for. Ziva David loved Anthony DiNozzo, and he loved her back. She lifted herself out of his bed and slowly walked into the kitchen where Tony had set the table and was working tirelessly at the stove. She slipped into a chair and faced the empty side of the table which was perfectly set for a lovely dinner. Ziva glanced up at Tony who was silently making a meal. He hadn't even noticed the sneaky ninja slip into the kitchen and take a seat.

Tony was certain he had just prepared the most perfect, most delicious grilled cheese there ever was. _This __will __be __Ziva__'__s, __so __she __doesn__'__t __think __I__'__m __a __complete __failure __at __cooking. _He turned around to set the sandwich on her plate when he gasped and threw the grilled cheese in the air. It landed on the ground. Now it was anything but perfect.

"Shit Ziva." He breathed, scared out of his mind. He hadn't even heard her sneak in. _Stupid __Mossad __super __powers, _Tony silently thought. "You scared the hell out of me."

"Sorry." The ninja smiled up at him then looked to the ground at the ruined grilled cheese sandwich.

"That one will be mine." Tony said, picking it up and throwing it down on his plate. He turned back to the stove to prepare yet another perfect meal. "I didn't even hear you wake up."

"Yeah, I guess I really never was asleep, mostly." Ziva mumbled. She couldn't get those three simple, yet so complicated, words that he had spoke to her out of her head.

"What?" Tony turned back towards her. If she was awake, she had heard everything. Which meant…

"Do you _really _love me?" Ziva asked, standing from the chair. She hovered around his body. They were close. She could taste his breath.

Tony DiNozzo was in shock. It was a simple 'yes' or 'no' question. Did he really mean what he said? Was Anthony DiNozzo really in love with his partner, Ziva David? He locked eyes with her, and found the answer. "Yes." He breathed out. But he couldn't just let that be his only answer. He quickly made up a snappy come-back. "Do _you _love _me_?"

Without hesitation Ziva nodded and responded with a "Yes, I do."

Tony felt a burst of confidence and lust roll through his body. He grabbed her face and sealed up the small space that separated their lips. The kiss was more amazing then he could ever imagine. Maybe it was because he was kissing the girl that he had really fallen in love with. It was like their mouths fit together perfectly, like a two piece puzzle. Ziva felt Tony's hand go up her leg and he lifted her on the table. He was lucky he didn't set her down on any plates of silverware. As he held onto her waist, Ziva cupped her hands around his face. They would both come up for air at the same time, but within seconds be locked into each other once again. Ziva took a short breath and smelled burning. She looked up from Tony. He kissed her neck as she looked around the kitchen.

"Tony." She whispered, "The grilled cheese?"

"Oh shit." He left her sitting on the table and franticly grabbed the spatula. Lifting the sandwich out of the pan they could easily tell it was burnt, badly. "Do you still want it?" He asked, setting it down on the plate. Ziva let out a short, but loud laugh.

"I rather have the one that fell on the ground."

* * *

><p>Don't worry, I'll get on with the story and wrap everything up in the next few chapters. I never thanked everyone for all the alerts, reviews, everything really soo THANKS! I really do love seeing those(: I hope you liked the major Tiva Chapter(; And as always, Thanks for Reading<p>

-Sam


	7. Chapter 7

Tim paced the lab while Abby stood patiently at the computer. Remembering a face wasn't as easy as McGee thought it would be, especially if that face had been shooting at you. He rubbed his temples, trying to recall every detail. Snapping his fingers and looking up at the cute Goth standing before him, Tim smiled. "I got it." He adventured over to Abby and took over the mouse; something Abby would only let _Timmy _do. "His face was more round and he had black hair… or maybe it was dark brown." McGee made the changes to the digital picture. "He was about 5'8 and pretty muscular, but a little fat too." He typed in the information into the facial recognition. In a few seconds the face evolved into the suspect's identity. "That _has _to be him."

"Okay, I'll but out a B.O.L.O and run his face through the data base." Abby said. They switched places like clockwork. "How's Ziva?" She asked while rapidly typing.

"Don't worry Abbs, she's okay. Tony is with her." McGee smiled reassuringly. He knew she hated them going out everyday, risking their lives in the field, and her not knowing whether they would make it back in one piece or on Ducky's autopsy table.

"You said she just ran in the middle of gunfire?" Abby questioned.

"Yeah, I think it was a pride thing." Tim said, rubbing the back of his neck. Abby gawked at the idea.

"Knowing her, that was probably it. When will she learn she has nothing to prove?" Abby asked. She and Ziva were like sisters, but Abby was so annoyed with her friend's constant need to be accepted. Ziva needed to realize that they were all family; she would always be accepted, no matter what.

"I don't know Abby. But she's going through a hard time, with the case and everything."

"I know, I just wish she would _talk _to me." Suddenly the computer beeped. It had found a match. Abby turned back to her computer and pulled up the file. She sighed.

"Did I do well?" McGee asked.

"Yeah." She answered almost angrily.

"Then why are you acting so mad?"

"Because Tim," She started and dragged him over to the screen, "This guy is bad news. Wanted for at least three bombings that killed at least ten people and injured more, not to mention the actual murder charges. Plus, it says here that he's suspected to be part of the group that killed Ziva's sister." The Goth and the geek exchanged looks, worried looks.

"Well what's his name Abbs?" Gibbs suddenly said, walking into the lab for the first time acting like he had been there the whole time. McGee jumped, startled by his sneaky boss. But the happy Goth turned to Gibbs, not surprised at all by his sneakiness and spat out "John Dossadi."

"Address?" Gibbs asked pointing at McGee and waving him over.

"Last known address was in D.C. I emailed the rest to Tim." Abby shouted as the two left her lab.

"I got it boss," He confirmed taking out his phone and pulling up the email.

"Call Tony, tell him where we're going."

"What about Ziva?" McGee asked.

"What about her?"

"Should I have Tony tell her?" The probationary agent, that wasn't so probationary anymore, asked. Gibbs gave him a side-ways glance. It was a good question. Gibbs knew Ziva would go after the suspect once she found out. She would stop for no one and everyone knew it. But Gibbs also knew Ziva would give them all hell if they with-held information from her, especially on this case. Especially when the suspect was part of the group that murdered her younger sister. They both stepped into the elevator. Gibbs waited for the doors to shut until he made his final decision.

"Let DiNozzo decide."

* * *

><p>She was actually smiling at him. He missed that flirtatious smile of hers. It had disappeared in the last few months. Sure, the sexual tension was still there, it had <em>always <em>been there, but never like before when she first walked into his life. Ziva calmly ate the grilled cheese that was picked off the floor while Tony chocked down the severely burnt one. They never took their eyes off each other. It was hard for both of them to hold back something they longed to do for so long.

Ziva had always imagined their first _real _kiss to be a lot more awkward when in reality, it was the best kiss she had ever had. Maybe it was because it was from Tony, or that it happened after those three 'simple' words had been spoken. She didn't really know, but she didn't really care. All she knew was that it happened, and it felt good. She knew she wanted more, but she knew they both had restrictions. But she didn't worry. It was nice, not worry. Ziva had been doing a lot of that lately. With her summer, with her father, with her sister, and with their new case. But the kiss had made-up for everything, and she was free of her worry for a few moments.

"What about Gibbs rule number twelve?" Tony asked choking down his last bite of grilled cheese. Ziva's worries suddenly swarmed back to her. She didn't want to disappoint Gibbs; she didn't want to loose him over a stupid rule.

"Do you think he'll be mad?" Ziva said, answering a question with a question. Even when being shot less than twenty-four hours ago, she was still as feisty and snappy as ever.

"Do you?" Tony could play the game. They were still smiling uncontrollably at each other. The flirtatious Italian couldn't help but feel pleased, like he was responsible for it. He was glad to see her like this; she hadn't smiled like that since…well since before Michael Rivkin came into the picture. But Rivkin was a topic he didn't want to think about, something he didn't want to bring up. Tony watched Ziva think about her answer. Just when she was about to say something, the very special agent's phone lit up. He took a quick look at it, seeing McGee's name flashing up on the screen. Ziva closed up her mouth and nodded towards the phone, still smiling. She understood. After all, they still were investigating a case; an _important _case. Besides, Ziva wanted to know just as much as anybody else. Tony smiled as well, almost in disappointment, and picked up the phone answering with a disgusted "What?"

"Wow, some one isn't having a good day. Ziva giving you trouble?" McGee joked.

"What do you want McGeek?" Tony spat through the phone. Ziva got herself up and pressed her ear to Tony's phone. Their cheeks touched and they both blushed. Either of them noticed.

"We got a facial match on the suspect and his last former address. Me and Gibbs are going there right now. It's an apartment complex on the outskirts of Georgetown."

Tony bit his lip and took a glance at his beautiful partner who had heard every word. She mumbled something silently to herself and took off across the kitchen.

"Alright thanks McGee." Tony said.

"Wait Tony, what are you going to do about…" Tony shut the phone before his second partner could finish. "Ziva, wait." He reached for her arm but she pulled away before he even brushed her.

"No. I am not going to wait. I have been waiting all my life!" She yelled, loosing her composure and letting a small tear slip. Ziva felt a pain in her side from the gun shot, raising her voice obviously wasn't a good idea.

"You are still hurting." Tony said admittedly grabbing her gently on the sides to hold her up, just in case. "The last thing you should do is go and track down a _dangerous _suspect."

Ziva looked disgusted, sad, angry, and everything above. Usually she would've pulled away from her partner when he grabbed her waist, but things were different now. Plus, she was hurting to much to put up a fight. "I can take care of myself. How many times do I have to tell you that I am alright, I can handle things on my own?" She disputed. Tony sighed loudly so she knew he wasn't happy.

"You know that's not what I meant."

"Then what do you mean?"

"You just can't get hurt again, okay? You can't go all crazy ninja and get shot again. And once you see that suspect, there is no doubt in mind that you'll pull a gun on him and shoot the basterd, which he deserves. But you can't do that either." Tony whispered. She squirmed but still never left his arms. She was tired of the past. All she wanted to do was kill the gunman that was part of the group that murdered her sister. It was horrible to say, but Ziva knew it would make her feel better even though it was one man out of many. And she wanted to feel better so badly, she was desperate to feel good ever since Somalia. Sure, she had felt good a few moments ago with Tony, but that was different.

"What can I do?" She snapped.

"Stay here with me, and let the boss and probie take care of things." Tony suggested. She wanted ever so bad to argue and escape the apartment anyways, but something told her not to. Ziva sighed a breath of defeat and dropped her shoulders.

"Fine." She was resistant, but it was good enough for Tony. He smiled and hugged her tightly. At first, she didn't hug him back. But once the wheels in Ziva's head started turning, she thought of a plan, and hugged Tony back. Standing on her tip-toes she kissed his neck. He responded by gently leaning down and touching his lips with hers.

"You want to take this to my room?" Tony happily said between kisses. She smiled back and nodded. Her plan was slowly going into place. Sure, she _really _did want to go to his room, but she had other things to do before that.

"You stay out here." She playfully said, walking towards her partner's bed room and calmly shutting the door. Ziva couldn't help but feel bad as she ran over to Tony's bedroom window and slid it open. _Thank __goodness __his __apartment __is __on __the __first __floor, _she thought and jumped out feeling a hurt of pain in her side. Ziva looked back inside. Tony was going to be so angry with her, not to mention disappointed _and _scared. Plus he would be annoyed with how she took advantage of him so easily. Her plan had worked too well. Gibbs was going to be pissed too. She would take care of it later, after she drove to Georgetown. Ziva silently shut the window and snuck around the apartment building. The ninja spotted Tony's car and slipped in. She knew he kept an extra pair of keys under the car carpet. And with that, Ziva was heading off to Georgetown, leaving the clueless special agent behind.

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><p>Okay so I lost inspiration real bad at the end of this chapter and just kind of finished it up real quick. Sorry, it's not my best :P Again, thanks a bunch for all the alerts and reviews, keep them comming ;D As always, thanks for reading.<p>

-Sam


	8. Chapter 8

Tony sat down on the couch, scared out of his mind. Him and Ziva, together, in his bed? It was something he had thought about, just never imagined doing. Tony squirmed on his couch. It was really going to happen; they were really going to happen. Tony took a few deep breaths, something a DiNozzo never did before sex. He convinced himself everything would go fine. Ziva has sure done it before, and there was no doubt in his mine he had done it before. What could go wrong?

After a while though, Ziva still hadn't called him in. What was she doing in there? Why was she taking so long? He never thought of Ziva as the girl who 'gets ready' before going into bed with a man. Now, he doubted himself. The curiosity got the best of the agent. Tony slowly got himself off the couch and walked up to his bedroom door.

"Ziva?" He called, but there was silence. He knocked louder, "Ziva! Are you there?" She didn't answer. His heart started beating rapidly. Tony slowly opened his door and walked in to an empty bedroom. Not believing that Ziva was gone, Tony checked under the bed, looked in the closet, and threw all the blankets off the bed. She was gone. That's when he started to panic. Did the third gunman come back? Was she captured? That's when he noticed the cracked window. He walked over and opened it completely to find footprints where she had landed. Tony cursed under his breath. How could he have been so stupid? Tony should've realized Ziva wouldn't have just jumped into bed with him right away.

"Ziva. I can't believe you." He said to himself pulling out his phone to call Gibbs, even though he knew he was in a world of hell once he explained the situation to his boss. Tony ran to the kitchen to grab his car keys. He reached outside to the side rode when he found his car was missing.

"Gibbs." His boss answered.

"Hey boss, it's Tony." He started.

"DiNozzo, what did you do?" He mumbled loudly through the phone.

"Well, um, it's really a funny story once you think about it."

"Where's Ziva?" Gibbs could always see through his best agent.

"She's gone. With my car." They both could hear the embarrassment in Tony's voice. The senior field agent could hear his boss slam his fist down on his desk.

"How?"

"Well, she heard McGee tell me the address, and she…um," Tony quickly whipped up a lie, "went to the bathroom and never came back. The window's open, and my car is gone." He explained in more detail, rule number 7; always be specific when you lie.

"McGee and I will be right over to pick you up." Gibbs sighed. Tony looked around the street and noticed a taxi waiting outside of a building.

"No need, boss. We don't have much time with the way Ziva drives, plus she's hurt. You guys go, I'll get there some how." Before his boss could argue, Tony hung up the phone. He would probably get an especially hard head slap for that, but it didn't matter. Ziva had gotten him into enough hell already. He started to sprint over to the taxi and knocked on the driver's window. The scruffy old man looked up when Tony held up a wad of cash. The taxi driver waved him in. "Georgetown." He commanded as he climbed into the cab while dialing Ziva's number on his phone. There was no answer. He convinced himself she had left it in his apartment. Tony knew she was okay, she had to be okay. Sure, she was hurt, real bad, and the man she was going after was skilled and dangerous. But Ziva was his ninja; she had crazy Mossad super powers. She was going to be okay, Tony hoped.

* * *

><p>The car ride was filled with awkward silence between McGee and his boss. The turn in events throughout the past few hours had left the probationary agent stunned out of his mind. Slowly, he tried to put the pieces together while blocking out the loud horns coming from outside. Gibbs was a crazy driver. Of course, with the way Ziva drives, they all needed Gibbs behind the wheel to make it to Georgetown in time. Who knew what Ziva would do if she got there before Tony or him and Gibbs did? McGee silently prayed for the best.<p>

"How's it going over there, McGee?" The boss suddenly asked from the driver's seat. He made a sharp right turn and sped up the car, just to pass a teenage driver who was already exceeding past the speed limit.

"Just praying that I live another day." He responded while clutching the door handle with one hand and his seat belt with the other.

"I mean, what are you thinking about?"

"Um, Ziva I guess." McGee truthfully answered with puzzlement in his voice.

"Yeah me too." Gibbs mumbled. He made another sharp turn, only to the left this time, and sped up even more. McGee turned to Gibbs.

"Do you think she'll kill him, boss?"

"The guy is part of the group that murdered her sister and one of her friends."

"So, yes?"

Gibbs nodded, slamming the foot on the gas peddle even more. He knew him and McGee weren't going to make it in time before Ziva would make the biggest mistake of her life. Before Gibbs and McGee had left, Vance had given them direct orders not to engage, to bring the suspect back to NCIS alive for questioning. He would be a good value to NCIS and would probably give up some of Hamas' secrets. But with Gibbs and McGee not reaching Georgetown in time, Ziva would already have him gunned down, which would mean she would most likely loose her job.

"This is bad, isn't it boss? I mean, the Director needs this guy for questioning. John Dossadi could help us bring down the whole organization completely, with enough time in interrogation. But if Ziva shoots him…" McGee dragged off.

"DiNozzo will get there in time." Gibbs said, not fully knowing if it was true or not.

"And if he doesn't?" McGee wasn't too sure what his boss was trying to say, but he knew Tony's chances of getting there to stop Ziva were slim, and the chances of him beating her were even slimmer. But his boss seemed optimistic, something that he never was.

"I think," Gibbs started, "DiNozzo is going to do whatever it takes to bring Ziva back safely. I think he is more worried about her that Dossadi."

"But Dossadi knows so much information and I'm sure Tony knows Ziva can take care of herself…" McGee trailed off again, now fully putting the pieces together. He turned to Gibbs. "And that doesn't bother you, boss?" Gibbs shrugged.

"I'm not sure yet, McGee. Besides, rule number twelve has been broken before, right?"

McGee quickly turned to look out the window. He could feel his face burn up and saw his red scarlet skin in his reflection. He knew Gibbs was smiling that rare smile they hardly ever got to see. McGee shifted uncomfortably in his seat and decided not to answer and pretend he hadn't heard the question. Yes, yes it has been broken. McGee thought, still looking out the window, smiling.

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><p>I don't know what's up with this chapter, just a little something something I guess(: I just wanted everyone to know that Gibbs knows about Tony and Ziva, it's not that hard to notice really. YOU HAVE TO BE BLIND NOT TO SEE TIVA! Sorry, back to the story :p I hope you caught that last part, total McAbby(: Sorry its so short. The chapter was more of a 'filler' for the nest chapter. The story should be wrapping up pretty soon. As always, thanks for reading.<p>

-Sam


	9. Chapter 9

She was driving fast, faster than usual. By now, she figured Tony had realized she had played him. He was probably making up a lie to tell the boss right now. With the way Gibbs drove, Ziva knew she didn't have much time. She knew they would want to take Dossadi in for questioning. Ziva David would make sure they would take him in to autopsy.

What Ziva didn't realize her emotions and memories were taking a hold of her. If she were in her right mind, she would've realized that shooting down John Dossadi would lead to severe consequences that even Ziva wouldn't be able to outmaneuver. But the anger drove her. It drove her all the way to Georgetown, through downtown, and to the outskirts of the city. The apartment building was rough, old, and what she expected a monster to be living in for the time being. The assassin left her boyfriend's car unlocked as she entered the building. This wouldn't take long. She flashed her badge at the landlord who looked extremely unpleased to see a cop. It didn't matter, she wasn't here for him. Ziva slammed a picture of Dossadi on the front desk.

"That's Francis, he's room 211." The landlord spat. Ziva figured the suspect would be using an alias, it wasn't a bug surprise. As she stormed up the stairs, holding her gun the whole time, memories flooded back to her. She saw Tali. She saw Ari. She saw her father. She even saw her good friend Aalee Jabara.

Ziva shook her liar of a father out of her head. She wasn't doing this for him. Eli was out of control. He was selfish. All her father ever cared about was his job, or the mission. Putting even his youngest daughter in the line of fire. No, Eli David was not her father any more. He was half the reason Tali was dead.

Ari lingered in the back of her mind for a moment. Ziva would have never killed her own brother, even if he was only half of her blood. She never had met his mother, but what Ari had said about her was very little. She always assumed his mother was dead, probably the works of Director David. But Ari had slowly turned into a monster under his father's control. Ziva knew she could not blame Ari for that; she had no choice to kill him, when it came right down to the moment. But none of this was for Ari either.

Aalee Jabara was a good agent. Always took orders properly and filled them out like a man. Truthfully, Ziva always thought he was in the wrong line of work. Jabara seemed like he would never hurt a fly. He was the nicest man you would've ever met, on the outside. On the inside, however, the man was trained as a killer, just like every Mossad operative. He had tortured almost as many men as Ziva had and never blinked twice about it. But despite how Aalee was trained, he was a good friend. When Tali had gone, she had cried for hours on his shoulder, especially when they took her body back home. He had been there for her, and she wouldn't have asked for more.

Tali's memory was driving her mad. Since the first time Ziva had laid eyes on her baby sister she had loved her deeply. She had never agreed with Eli's decision of putting her in the field so early, but Ziva never argued with her 'father,' not like Ari did. She did her best to try to protect her. The feeling of guilt lingered her body everyday on how she should've been by her side during the explosion, she should've fought harder for her sister, and she should've been the one to die. As Ziva kicked down the door to 211, she knew the guilt would soon be over.

She saw him. He stood over a stove making a meal like any ordinary human being would. It reminded Ziva of Tony and his failed attempt at making her a meal. Dossadi turned to the doorway and spotted Ziva. He went to run but had no where to go.

"Stop!" Ziva screamed, her gun held out an arm length in front of her. She began panting, though for no reason. He held his hands up and smirked an evil grin. Ziva paid no attention. "Do you know who I am?" She whispered, now shaking. Her anger was slowly taking over.

"You're the women my team shot. One of the federal agents." He was acting calm. He knew she was angry and he knew the perfect way to take advantage of that. "Do you know who I am?"

His question struck her as odd. It reminded her of her and Tony's usual banter. They always answered each other's question, with a question. Ziva shook her head madly to get Tony off her brain. It was no time to think about him now. "You are John Dossadi, a member of Hamas. A member of the group that murdered my younger sister and one of my close friends."

"Well I guess it's too late for an apology." Then he started to _laugh_. The fire in Ziva's eyes grew stronger. This man was a monster. He killed people for fun; he didn't even have a reason. He was a vicious, cold-blooded, human-being who didn't deserve to laugh or even smile. She raised her gun up higher and fingered the trigger. Ziva was so tempted to just pull it, but something held her back.

"Why do you do, what you do?" She suddenly asked. If Ziva was going to kill this man, she might as well get some answers to the questions that always nagged deep inside of her.

"It is what I believe." He answered, some-what seriously.

"Do you believe in killing innocent people? Or killing little girls? She was only six-teen, and her life was ripped away from her!" She felt tears coming on, but never let one slip, this man didn't deserve to see her cry.

"What's done is done."

Ziva snorted loudly. She wasn't going to get to him, it was no use. She decided to use a different approach. "Where is Ismail Zahar?"

"He's long gone, before your team even raided the warehouse. Is that who killed your sister? That's who's really to blame here, isn't it?"

Ziva stormed over to Dossadi and put the barrel of the gun against his skull. He was taunting her, they both knew it. "You are all to blame." She whispered almost silently while loading the gun. Soon, it would all be over. No more guilt while taking her showers, no more horrible memories in her dreams, and no more blame while taking her runs. The only thing left was to shoot him and keep the better memories of her life with her sister.

But now, something was happening. John Dossadi no longer looked at Ziva holding a gun to his head, but his doorway. She looked up to see what his curiosity had led to. It was Tony, panting hard, holding a gun out. Ziva wasn't completely sure where he was pointing at. She didn't know how he got here so fast, but she guessed it had something to do with his emotions. She had probably hurt him, but she _knew_she had worried him.

With Ziva being distracted, John Dossadi knew it was his time to strike. He swung his arm over to her wound, knowing exactly where she had been she since he had been there, and taking her gun from her hand. Ziva drew in a sharp breath and suddenly collapsed, but was caught but the monster she had come to kill. She felt the gun barrel cold on her scalp. Tony's face had turned pick to red in seconds.

"You don't have to do this John. You can help us, and yourself, right now." Tony began to speak, trying to waste time and let Ziva recover from the blow. It took all of his will power to not shoot down the suspect now, even though Ziva was being held in front of him.

"You can't help me anymore. I've done too much damage already."

"Not true," Tony spoke again, locking eyes with Ziva who had already been staring at him for a while, "Our director wants you for questioning. If you give us some answers, maybe…"

"I will never give up anything." Dossadi yelled. Ziva began to recover. The eye contact between her and Tony gave her a little more strength. She noticed him giving her a small nod. Ziva took another few deep breaths. Even if she were to not be strong enough, she knew Tony would have her back. He always did. Despite the unbearable pain in her side, Ziva used all her strength to kick out of Dossadi's grip and kick the gun out of his hand. She collapsed on the ground again, trying to catch her breath once more. Tony jumped on the suspect, punching and fighting with him. The anger now took him over as he hit the suspect with yet another blow to the face. He knew he should just cuff him and rush to Ziva's aid, but he had to get some revenge out of his system. It wasn't long before he felt her soft touch on his shoulder. Tony whipped his head around to find Ziva smiling up at him with Gibbs and McGee calmly standing at each of her sides.

"I think that's enough, Tony." McGee advised. Tony turned back around to see Dossadi's unconscious body under him.

"Yeah DiNozzo, I think you proved your point." Their boss laughed, which brought a smile to all their faces. Tony stood up and took Ziva away from his boss and his other partner. He held her close while the two cuffed the suspect.

"It's over Ziva." He whispered to her, brushing a piece of hair out from her eyes.

"You are pissed at me, yes?" She looked up at him seeing his face go serious, that face was very rare. Tony nodded, but laughed, hiding his seriousness once more. He was just happy to see her. Ziva laughed as well while spitting out a "sorry."

"I'm over it. I'm just glad you're alright." He gently rubbed her side where her wound was.

"I am _fine _Tony, how many times do I…" But she cut off with her partner's lip reaching hers. Was he kissing her? Now? In front of McGee and _Gibbs_? Obviously, she didn't mind much, because Ziva kissed him back. It was a short kiss, but it left McGee starring. Gibbs nudged the agent and simply said, "I told you Tony would make it."

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><p>Holly fudge, one more chapter to go! Please review, it would make my day(: I'm sorry if Gibbs is a little out of character lately but I just love seeing him show his bright side(: OH! And sorry about Tony's anger issues, I just thought it showed how much he cares for Ziva (there goes my hopeless romantic side again!) As always, thanks so much for reading!<p>

-Sam


	10. Chapter 10

Her heart was beating fast. Vance had called her up to MTAC for reasons he couldn't discuss over the phone. As she walked up the stairs, she took a second look back at Tony who gave her a smile of strength. She loved it when he did that, which was a lot more often now that they were fully dating. They both had already consulted Gibbs about it. As long as their relationship didn't affect their work, he didn't mind much. She proceeded to the MTAC doors showing her eye to the scanner. The locked doors opened and she walked in to find Director Vance having a rather pleasant conversation with Eli David over a satellite feed. Her legs began to feel a little shakier when she saw her father.

"Sir, Agent David is here." A probationary agent casually informed the Director of NCIS. The two men, both on the screen and in person, looked from each other to her. Ziva cautiously approached Vance but didn't dare look up at the screen where her father watched.

"Special Agent David, we have some rather good news for you." Vance said looking from his close friend to one of his agents. Their relationship seemed distant and he knew better not to ask. "Eli, care to explain?"

The Director of Mossad sighed loudly and began to speak. "Ziva." Was all he said at first. Awkward silence came after that. He wouldn't continue unless she looked up at him. Ziva knew what he was doing; she had no choice but to face her father. Eli had gotten much older since the last time she had seen him. Sure, it was only a couple of weeks ago since she had called him from the NCIS bathrooms, but it had been months since she had actually seen him. He tried to flash a loving smile. She refused to smile back.

"A few days ago, Leon and I had a discussion about Ismail Zahar." Director David started. Ziva breathed in deep. It had been maybe a week since they had caught John Dossadi and realized Zahar had already escaped. "Leon told me everything Ziva and I want you to know we _found __him_." Her eyes grew wide. They had found Zahar! She bit her lip to prevent herself from smiling at the news. All these questions started to swell up. Ziva tried hard not to let all of them slip out at once because she refused to let her father know he had made her happy. She still resented him, but right now she had no choice but to talk to him.

"Is he dead?" Was the first question she asked.

"No. You know we can't just shoot some one, no matter how much _I _might want to."

Ziva respected him a little more after that. At least he had some sort of feelings for his youngest daughter. "So he is in Mossad's custody?"

"Yes, being _questioned _as we speak." The whole room got a little quieter after that. Everyone knew Mossad's way of 'questioning.' Ziva shifted her weight to one foot from the next. She didn't want to talk to him anymore. She had asked what she needed to ask, he had said what he had needed to say, now they were done and they both knew it.

"I can clear the room if you two need some time alone." Vance suggested after another long moment of awkward silence.

"That won't be necessary." Ziva said looking down at her feet. She didn't want her to see her father's reaction; whish was probably a hurt one. She didn't want to feel bad for him; he still didn't deserve that out of her. Still, she was thankful that Mossad had found Zahar. That meant he wouldn't go unpunished for what he had done. "Thank you Eli." Ziva said looking up at him for a short second then turning to her Director. "Thank you as well." Now she began to leave MTAC. Before she went, Ziva heard her name called. She whipped around to see her father looking as sad as ever, but his face was still as hard as rock.

"I am sorry, Ziva." He strongly spoke in front of the NCIS Director and the MTAC workers. "I hope I can make it up to you some day."

Ziva nodded to him slightly before fully leaving the room. She couldn't help but run back down to the bullpen where she stopped as Gibbs, McGee, and Tony looked up at her. Abby was there too, probably for some case they were about to work on.

"My father found Ismail Zahar." Ziva said with a smile across her face. Abby couldn't help but let out a little yelp of excitement as she ran over to her friend and embraced her with a hug that almost knocked Ziva to the ground. Ziva hugged her friend tightly and smiled ever bigger.

* * *

><p>"So you talked to your father then?" Tony asked Ziva as he handed her a beer and made himself comfy next to her on his couch. She nodded and sat the drink on the table. She leaned on his shoulder and snuggled up close to him. His arm went around her back and he traced gentle circles around her arm as they watched TV.<p>

"I guess you could say that. I am thankful that he found the basterd, but I still have hardly any desire to talk to him." She sighed. Despite the talk about her father, she still seemed to keep smiling. Ziva couldn't help but feel happy knowing that Zahar was behind bars, mostly likely for the rest of his life. "I did thank him though. He deserved that."

"Well I'm glad. I love seeing you like this." Tony admitted kissing her forehead pulling her closer to him.

"Like what?" She asked.

"All smiles. I'm actually kind of jealous. Even I can't make you this happy." Tony admitted. Ziva laughed.

"I would not say that. You make me happier than he ever did." She looked up at him and noticed the slight smile form around his lips. It was true; she was ecstatic about never having to deal with Zahar or Dossadi ever again. But when she was with Tony, she was happier than ever. When she was in his arms, all she did was smile. When they kissed, it was like she was on top of the world. He made her happy, everyday.

"That's because I love you." He whispered and looked down at her. Their eyes connected. It was the first time had told he loved her to her face, when she wasn't asleep.

"I love you too." She said. And with that, their lips connected. They kissed for a long time. Somehow, she settled in his lap. His hands were riding up and down her back under her shirt while her hands tangled in his hair.

"Do you want to take this to your room?" Ziva asked between kissed. Tony laughed while he kissed and shook his head.

"I don't want you running away again. I think right here is fine." Now they both laughed. She felt him play with her bra from under her shirt until he finally unclipped it. She took the ends of his shirt and pulled it off. He did the same with hers. Ziva knew tonight she would no longer fall asleep and be greeted by terrible nightmares of her past. She would be greeted by dreams of what she imagined her new future to be.

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><p>Ziva awoke from his couch from the smell of food cooking. She got up and made her way into his bedroom fully dressing herself from the clothes that she had brought specifically for nights like the last. She walked into the kitchen to find Tony humming away while flipping pancakes, already dressed for work.<p>

"What time is it?" She asked. Tony jumped from the stove and whipped his body around to face her.

"Ziva, you really have to stop doing that." He breathed. Once he calmed down he turned back to the stove and responded, "We still have a few extra minutes before work."

"You are making breakfast?" She asked as she peaked around his arm. He grabbed a plate and threw down a freshly made pancake and handed it to her.

"Sure am." He smiled and got himself food as well. They sat at Tony's dinning room table eating peacefully together. Once they finished, they moved like clockwork. Ziva did her hair and makeup while Tony finished brushing his teeth.

"I'll be in the car." He met said hugging her from behind in front of the mirror. He kissed her neck then left the apartment. Ziva was left staring at herself, smiling. Her belt held her gun and the NCIS badge, but it wasn't the reason for her smile, not this time. She and Tony were acting like they did this everyday, or their whole life. They moved together so flawlessly and fit together so perfect. He was waiting for her in the car while she finished up in the bathroom. It was like they had found their new morning routine that they would be doing for the rest of their lives. That thought didn't bother Ziva as much as she thought it would. She wanted Tony to be a part of the rest of her life, she wanted him there forever. She enjoyed last night, and she loved this morning. Ziva finished up. Before leaving for the car, she took one last look at Tony's apartment. This was her home now. Ziva found Tony waiting patiently in his car. When she slipped in, she pecked him softly on the check. He smiled at her before driving off. He was what she would fall asleep to every night. She was what he would wake up to every morning. They were each other's New Beginning.

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><p>Oh wow, it's done(: I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writting it! Thank you to everyone who reviewed; <em>Robern, Aquasm, FamishedSinger, drummss, NazChick,<em> and _earanemith_. Reviews make me so happy(: Also thanks to everyone for all the Alerts and support, that really means a lot(: As always, thanks for reading(:

-Sam


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